Notes About The Poem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lancaster
Fort Lancaster
There's a fort down in Texas white men built to defend their right
Sending the oppressed, to fight the dispossessed, not concerned with either's plight
Remnants stand there in the sand to remind us where we've been
But some will know what they will show is likely where we'll go again
King Solomon said, in that king-sized head, nothing new sets under the sun
It's a lesson we've not learned from wisdom we have spurned, likely from then on to kingdom come
If nowhere has a middle, this just might be it, but out that way's a lot more of the same
And to this day no one's left to say, why Captain Carpenter would chose this name
But the Army was in need, of a stop for man and steed, on the long hot road from San Antonio
Back in '55, just to stay alive was a chore when goin' out to old El Paso
But migrants headed west, as tho' they were possessed, by somethin' that just made 'em wanna roam
Folks kept on acomin', 'spite the scalpin' and adrummin', from the folks who called this desert home
That was Lipan Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche, who'd been livin' hereabouts since time began
Leastways that's what we can reckon as they carved a life in what one wonders how you can
Midnight and high noon, find the vinegaroon, trading spaces with the lizards and the snakes
And beneath the midnight moon, fly the fur and feather, soon as they are big enough to show you what it takes
But it's the prickly pear and cholla are the ones that most enjoy an afternoon inside this fryin' pan
But if we're just passin' through, doesn't matter what we do, to what you find there whether animal or man
General Persifor Frazer Smith, he would stand up to the test, to command the whole Southwest
Settin' up a line of forts, through the desert and all sorts, of the land where we now stand from here to breakfast
"We won't settle for redoubts, or any quick in-outs. We'll establish what should last out there forever.
We'll bring in those ships of desert, as we sail the sand on leather, and we'll connect all of these forts together.
We will brave the quill and quiver, over by the Pecos River, to connect the forts all under my command.
And we'll provide the safest passage, anybody could imagine, through this unforgiving empty land."
But the winds of war had gathered, and some folks were getting lathered, opening a case they thought was shut
And the dissention that was brewing, had the politicians stewing, and disagreeing over what was what
So bluster and bombastion, became the latest fashion, to see who's boast was stirrin' up the most
What with Texas now seceding, all could see where this was leading, so the Army up and headed for the coast
Then the rebel army started, to take up where they'd departed, to determine what was going to transpire
But after some discussion that included some percussion, Fort Lancaster had lost its trial by fire
And then a little later as happens in all war's theater, people will get tired and be gone
And the folks who called this home, once again were left to roam, where they had been alone there all along
The desert filled with song, through the night and the day long, with the ashes left to scatter in the wind
And the prickly pear and cholla, took command of what's destroyed there in that land, where nature doesn't bend
To the whim and to the folly, of invader's melancholy, much as they would like to make it so
The only thing left captured, was the dream of the enraptured, seeking passage, to make their fortune grow
Now in '67 the Army moved back in, with the formerly enslaved following orders
It was a different kind of bison than what there used to roam, they were charged, with shoring up the border
To start out with rebuilding, the ramparts and the buildings, that formerly had made up that old fort
For folks just kept on comin', even though they heard the drummin', cause they felt they could always just resort
To the Army and its colors, to provide them with protection, for the journey, on out to California
Stage coach, wagon, and some mounted, "Count on the encounter," folks back home asayin', "I warn ya."
The 9th Cavalry had rotated, various companies through the desert, to that old hot and dusty fort
Now it's up to Comp'ny K to carry, on the day and be the ones, left to report
What happened there each day, whether peace or fray, and the progress on the fort reconstitution
Of what had been there established, as frontier land protection, for a nation's ambitious solution
In the occupation, of the sea to sea fixation, of Manifest Destiny and its dictates
Now in what used to be the spoils, of confederacy through its toils, the Union occupies all of the states
So it was "40 miles a day on beans and hay", just past Christmas and a day
60 left of the oppressed were left with nothing left to say
Except, "Yessir" while they're cleaning up the Spencers they'd been issued
Soon just to stay among the living, they'd be fighting, if they wished to
They left one war in the South, where they'd been living hand to mouth
Now their defense will depend on fighting north and west and south
Outnumbered 2 score to each 1, they were sticking to their guns
As the assault came sweeping in, from three directions
Led by Cap'n Bill Frohock, soon they'd be try'n to save the stock
Along with their own hide, and hair, and honor
Then by Providence or luck, the stock started to buck
And the stampede turned the tide, in the Comp'nys favor
It's a war of desperation, a soldier puts his fate in, when he's on the line and fighting to survive
It doesn't matter then the nation, or the politics or station, of his brothers, he just wants to stay alive
And it's for each one at his shoulder, that his blood runs not hot, but colder
It's ice water fills the veins, not the wanting to be bolder
Greater love hath no man than to lay life down for his friend
And if this should be his end, let it be said he held his end
Although when the bullets fly, there's always men on either side
Not there for principle, or politics, or love of foolish pride
So it was there that the oppressed, fought the dispossessed
And the ruins lay around us to this day
It's up to us to take the lesson from destruction and oppression
And to build up something better, before we join the clay
Men taken from their lands, fighting men whose lands were taken, in the land of the forsaken, far from home
Lest Fort Lancaster be disaster lessons not learned now hereafter, let's take a lesson from this forgotten tome
Let reflection of the day, not be lost in the last chapter, as we close the book on history, we're wont to overlook
Let victory on that day, not be the takeaway, but rather the reflection on possessions that we took
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